Dr Rachel Mann - 29/10/2026

Available for over a year

It is rare to call any street or road ‘iconic’. But Oxford Street in London’s West End is different. It has featured in the writings of Charles Dickens and Thomas De Quincy and has often been called Europe’s busiest shopping street. And now, to a range of strong reactions, almost a kilometre of it has been pedestrianised. Pedestrianisation is not, I suspect, a word many associate with excitement or big emotions. The word ‘pedestrian,’ when used as an adjective, means dull and uninspired. However, the responses to Oxford Street’s transformation have been anything but. Some have expressed genuine anxiety about how it might clog up the surrounding streets with displaced traffic. Others, especially those who prefer to walk or use a wheelchair, have rejoiced. I confess I am in the latter group. Indeed, the pedestrianisation might finally encourage me to go to Oxford Street after decades away. However, for me, this is not simply a matter of personal convenience or curiosity. There is something theologically significant about decisions to give a space over to walking or movement at a walking pace. Walking is part of being human and has been treasured by all religious traditions. Personally, I am drawn to the ancient idea of ‘solvitur ambulando’ or ‘it is solved by walking’. The phrase has often been attributed to St Augustine, who suggested that philosophical problems could be solved that way. I can attest to the power of the principle. If I am struggling with a problem —— I typically find that taking a walk unlocks my ideas. However, the idea of ‘solvitur ambulando’ has achieved a wider spiritual resonance through popular travel writers like Patrick Leigh Fermor and Bruce Chatwin who suggest that walking can reconnect us with our humanity and spiritual well-being. The Japanese theologian Kosuke Koyama pushed this idea even further. He suggested that humans flourish when we are in tune with the speed of God. He noted that, on the evidence of Jesus in the Gospels, that is usually walking pace. This ‘three-mile-an-hour God’ invites people to slow down from the speeds the modern world accustoms us to. When we do that, Koyama says, we might just notice God’s invitation to live in kinder, more hopeful ways. I am not for a moment suggesting that Oxford Street’s pedestrianisation is a panacea for the anxiety and stress many of us feel. Oxford Street will remain a shopping hub with all the clatter that goes with it. But I do wonder whether giving it over to walking pace might have more benefits than merely physical ones. For me, its all about God’s speed. By sticking to it, I might be better in tune with both him and other people.